LA CROSSE, Wis. – In need of a bounce back win, the No. 1-ranked Missouri Baptist University women's volleyball team did just that on Saturday in the form of a 3-0 sweep over No. 21 Grand View University. The Spartans never trailed in a 25-20 Set One victory, won a marathon second set – 32-30, and overpowered the Vikings in a dominant 25-11 finish.
Fueled by a .306 hitting percentage and leading in every facet of the match, Missouri Baptist improved its record to 5-2 on the year, while the winless Vikings dropped to 0-6 overall.
After traveling two straight weekends to open the season, the Spartans will embark on a five-match homestand starting Wednesday, Sept. 8 against Lincoln Christian. That weekend, head oach
Chris Nichols and the Spartans will host the likes of No. 11 Central Methodist (Mo.), No. 20 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), and Xavier (La.) for the MBU Spartan Invitational.
In a closely-contested opening set, it was the outside hitting duo of
Isidora Stojovic and
Emma Lattimore that paced the Spartans. Stojovic and Lattimore combined for eight kills in the set and helped in the collective effort to pull away late in the 25-20 set win.
With both teams swinging away in the Set 2, several Spartans got in on the scoring action, but no one had a bigger impact than the 2020 AMC Player of the Year.
Giovanna Tapigliani was virtually unstoppable hammering home eight kills and two assisted blocks. MoBap fought back from a four-point deficit and capitalized on GVU errors late to snag the 32-30 win.
With the momentum of winning a close set, the Spartans used a 6-0 run early on to separate themselves and then went on to score in seven of the last nine rallies. Sophomore middle blocker
Sara Klunder had four kills for MBU as well as a block and service ace to close out the match.
Between Klunder, Tapigliani and
Raylyn Dodd, the three Spartans tallied 32 kills with a .481 hitting percentage. Tapigliani led the way with 14 kills while adding 9 digs and 3 blocks. Klunder posted 10 kills, a match-best 7 blocks, 4 digs and tied for a match-best 2 service aces. Directing the offense in the win was sophomore
Shannon McLain, who averaged 12.0 assists per set with a final stat line of 36 assists, 2 blocks, and a service ace.
Other leaders on the day included
Ariana Macies with a team-high 15 digs, in addition to
Emma Lattimore and
Sara Klunder with two aces.
